Versus
Versus is a book written by teenage Wattpad author E. M. Rivera currently in progress that is divided into five parts due to its' length of 100 chapters plus extra chapters. She is currently uploading the book every Wednesday on Wattpad. It takes place in the 26th century and follows Calista Medley, an 18-year old girl who has a lifelong dream of beginning a fighting career as a Versus Games competitor. She is initially bullied at high school for her low grades, but then has a change of pace when she gets a chance to compete by training in the best fighting academy in the world, Fistborn Academy. The first draft was released on September 4th, 2019 on Wattpad and is being published every Wednesday, one chapter weekly. The Spanish version was released on the same day and being published along with the English version. The book is divided into 5 parts, being 100 chapters long (not including bonus chapters). Rivera wrote the first part from 7/2/19-9/16/19, the second part from 9/16/19-10/25/19, and the third part from 10/25/19-12/8/19. The fourth part is in progress. The remaining fifth part is not yet in progress. Plot (contains spoilers, if you want to read the book, go to www.wattpad.com/electrawhittaker ) Part I: Preparation The story begins with Calista being only 9 years old, introducing her, her younger sister, Catalina Medley, and her parents, as well as her unborn younger brother, Ben Medley. She goes with her family to the famed Washington Versus Games Arena to see the annual Versus Games Tournament in person. During the first round, called the Hunger Games, Calista cheers for her favorite fighter and role model, Lisa White, who is the best female fighter in the Versus and in Fistborn Academy, the best academy in the world. After the round ends, Calista is bullied by a boy since he was a fan of Fistborn's rival academy. His friend tries to defend her, but the boy starts a brawl with Calista. Having self-trained herself, she beats the boy in the fight. Lisa sees the bullying and defends Calista, also commending her for her skills. Calista marks that day as the best day of her life. 9 years later, Calista is suffering through bullying in high school as well as relationship problems with her parents because of her terrible grades, having fallen into depression and lack of motivation to study after being rejected by 10 fighting academies. After another terrible day at school, she argues with her parents and leaves home, going to Rebecca's Diner to talk with her only friend, Rebecca. Rebecca talks Calista through her problems and she agrees to return home, only to be confronted by a group of bullies on the way. She fights them and escapes the attack, but is then met by a mysterious man who chases her down and fights her. Calista loses the fight and is kidnapped by the man's group. She awakens in a box and her kidnappers explain that they mean no harm and introduce her to their boss, Benson Kalley. Benson explains that the Versus administrators are excluding some states from fighting, including their own state, Indiana. Calista agrees to help them by competing and proving that anyone can compete, regardless of individual results from each state. Benson enrolls Calista in Fistborn Academy and she meets again with Lisa White, now the head coach of the academy. She passes the entrance test and becomes an official Fistborn student. On her first day, she meets four new friends, Rosalina Allen, Camelot Courier, Belinda Ferry, and Lilith Hodges. Afterwards, she meets her personal student coach, Harrison Smith. She has a hard time fitting in at first and is irritated by Harrison's smug, arrogant way of speaking as he made her exercise all day, resulting in very sore muscles the next day. The soreness causes her to be unceremoniously beaten in a spar by arrogant Bark Davies, causing her to be bullied by him, his girlfriend Hillary Kaye, and the other students. Harrison then helps her and she improves her fighting, later winning her spar with Hillary and obtaining respect. Bark later accuses her of cheating and they agree to spar later on to prove it. During the spar, Calista wins the fight and ends the bullying she had to endure for the first month of her training, she becomes close friends with Harrison, and she finally feels happy in her new academy. At the end of Part 1, Lisa reads out the list of the 150 students out of 2,346 students admitted into the Versus Games and Calista finds out she made the cut, along with her friends and her enemies. In the bonus chapters, Coach Jenna, a coach who also treated Calista coldly, presents the hardest obstacle course in history, called the Mulan Challenge, so she can find a way to pull Calista out of the competition. Calista and her friends struggle to complete the course at first, not even reaching the 5th floor limit, but later on, Calista's determination wills her on to complete the course. She reaches the top, passing the limit, in front of the whole school and further proves that she deserves to be in the Versus. Part II: First Round Calista prepares for the trip to the Versus Games Arena to begin her first competition. Upon arrival, she begins training for the Hunger Games rounds, which are the first rounds in the individual bouts, involving 129 groups of 100 fighters that go eliminating each other until the required amount of fighters are eliminated. During her first training session, Harrison teases her and angers her, leading her to apologize and unknowingly call her by her nickname. She tells him that only people she trusts can call her by that name and she lets him use the name, making up with him. During her first Hunger Games round, Calista fights and befriends a Japanese fighter named Erina Hasegawa and a Canadian fighter named Andy Libbary. She completes her fight and grows closer to Harrison, eliciting some friendly teasing from her best friends, who think they make a good couple. Harrison later tells Calista about the paired bouts, which are additional rounds where boy-girl pairs compete and race to get four capsules into cradles, for four winning pairs. He tells her they are paired up together and she finds herself excited. She later meets with Andy and converses with him, learning about his past life in New York and why he moved to Canada. Calista's friends spy on them to make sure she doesn't give him her nickname, which she doesn't, to their relief. During the first pairs round, Calista and Harrison fight together and have a lot of close and intimate moments, showing the growing romance between them. They win the match along with three other pairs by a hair. In Calista's second Hunger Games round, she accidentally enters the center of the map, which is filled with powerful illusions only experienced fighters can handle. The illusory program succeeds in entering her subconscious and it makes her go through multiple nightmares of her failing and disappointing everyone she knew. Despite the distraction, she succeeds in eliminating a top fighter and wins. Harrison comforts Calista after she breaks down from the traumatic experience and they grow closer, making their feelings for each other grow stronger. After finishing a paired race, Calista introduces Harrison to Andy and Harrison seems uncomfortable. Calista's friends interrogate her about her relationship with Andy but she insists they are only friends. Harrison and Andy have a tense conversation with each other, revealing them to be former best friends with a bad history. Later on, Calista's family surprises her by coming to see her fight in person. Calista later fights Bark and Hillary in her third Hunger Games round while all the other students of Fistborn are watching. Harrison's friends ask him about his feelings, revealing his friends Elmer and Reilly, both top students, reciprocate feelings for Lilith and Rosalina during the conversation. Harrison admits he has a small crush on Calista. They watch as Calista beats Bark and Hillary and makes it to the top of the clock-themed map, where she narrowly misses being eliminated and wins. Harrison is angry when he sees Andy helping her up and congratulating her. After the round, Bark confronts Calista and claims she cheated, also revealing that he and Hillary are broken up for enjoying one another's failure. Calista spends time with her family and friends, who all inquire her about Andy and express their concern since he is from another academy. Calista later hangs out with Andy at the bar, drinking non-alcoholic drinks. Catalina comes over and pries into their conversation, grilling Andy with obvious questions about him. Calista argues with her and doesn't talk to her for an extended period of time, having been fed up with all the suspicious comments about Andy simply because he's from another academy. Bark later talks to Rosalina and threatens to ruin Calista and Harrison's friendship if she doesn't eliminate Calista in the final Hunger Games round. Rosalina reluctantly accepts and fights Calista in the last round, eliciting a heated argument between them. Calista is forced to eliminate Rosalina from the competition. During the fight, Catalina feels guilty and thinks they are fighting because of the deal she made with Rosalina to interrogate Andy. She goes to the bathroom to calm down and is suddenly kidnapped by unidentified individuals. Calista later confronts Rosalina and she reveals the blackmail, making her confront Bark and initiate a fight out of anger. Harrison stops the fight and calms Calista down back in her dorm. Her mother suddenly rushes in and tells her about Catalina's disappearance, prompting them to leave and not be able to watch their daughter fight. In the next pairs match, where only 2 pairs go up against each other, Calista and Harrison go up against Bark and Hillary. Because of her sister's disappearance, Calista's worry distracts her and lets Bark and Hillary overpower them, making them lose. The reporters ask them questions about their first loss, insensitively mentioning Catalina and making them upset. They later hang out at Harrison's dorm and Calista bursts into worried tears for her sister, prompting Harrison to comfort her. In the moment, Calista finally admits to herself that she has feelings for Harrison. She later meets Andy again at the bar and he talks her through her worry for Catalina and the recent slump Fistborn is going through, making them lose many matches. Calista finds herself also feeling something for Andy, confusing her. Harrison later shows up and threatens Andy after Calista leaves, warning him to not betray her like he betrayed him. Harrison then wins his last Hunger Games match, ending the Fistborn slump. Calista and Harrison then win their last paired match against Argentina, winning fourth place. Andy goes to her dorm to congratulate her, where Rosalina and Camelot meet him. They discuss their worry for their friendship, fearing that he might betray Calista or someone else might betray them both. Calista tells them nothing else will happen between them, keeping them at bay. They then discuss Camelot and Belinda's changes of love interests. In the bonus chapters, Catalina meets her kidnapper, an unidentified woman who tells her about a plan to 'save the world', which is not entirely specified. The woman then lets a group of men beat her up to begin her 'training'. Harrison discusses his feelings for Calista with his friends, who encourage him to ask her to the upcoming intermission party. Elmer asks Lilith to go with him in the cafeteria and Reilly asks Rosalina in private. Back home, Ben wakes up from a bad dream and calls Calista for comfort, who prays with him for Catalina and instantly makes him feel better. Harrison finds Calista in the pool and they play fight in the water, Calista talks about Catalina and he makes her feel better, ending the part. Part III: Pressure The third part begins with a celebratory dinner for the Fistborn Academy students, which is quickly ruined by Bark and Hillary's snide remarks about Calista and Harrison's success. The girls are later visited by Lisa White, who reminds them of the intermission party and reveals that Rosalina made their dresses by hand. When Calista panics about not knowing how to dance at a party, Benson surprises her and teaches her to dance, while Lisa teaches Harrison. During the party, the two enjoy themselves by dancing together along with the other girls and their dates. Harrison and Calista take a break and talk on the balcony, leading them to almost kiss, but Andy interrupts them. They then hear that the President of the Versus Games, Jerry Lancaster, is suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and that he is being replaced by Bethany Colleen, who promotes more violence and strikes unease into Calista and her friends. After the party, Calista feels conflicted about the near-kiss, but she and Harrison never talk about it. The next day, while Calista is going to the training room, she is surprise attacked by six individuals and injured severely, her injuries including a dislocated right shoulder, a broken left elbow, a broken right knee, four broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a minor head wound. Harrison finds her shortly afterwards and takes her to the infirmary, where the doctor tells him and the girls that she will heal in five to six days, which means she would miss her individuals match. They try to request a postponement so Calista isn't eliminated, but because of the new President, the rules change and postponements are no longer allowed. Hearing this after she wakes up, Calista is determined to fight regardless of her injuries. When her match comes up, she fights through the pain and wins against her opponent, luckily not suffering any permanent damage. While Harrison stays with her at the infirmary, he confronts Bark, telling him he knows he beat her up along with Hillary and his other friends and threatening to harm him if he did that again. Calista and Harrison later have their first team bout, where different teams consisting of 15 members each race through the map searching for 6 puzzle pieces. The team with the most puzzle pieces wins the round, while the second place team goes to the other bracket, and the rest are eliminated. They win their match and a background romance is revealed between two other Fistborn teammates, Dakota Delario and Jack Dustin. Calista and Andy meet up in the lobby later on to view the quarter-finals, where they discuss Calista's 'Friendly Fighter Complex', which was the conflicted feeling she had about the possibility of fighting Harrison. Harrison interrupts their conversation by calling Calista in for training and he warns her not to trust Andy, but doesn't tell her about their history, instead labeling his warning as a 'bad vibe'. Calista later has her quarter-final fight against Felicity Middleton, which she wins. Andy then tells her in the lobby that Harrison left during her match and didn't watch it, making her feel uneasy. She then confronts Harrison, who reveals that he left because Rosalina accidentally broke her ankle. Calista argues with him about his suspicion towards Andy, leaving their friendship in a shaky state. During Harrison's quarter-final fight against Darius Argyle, Darius advises him to tell Calista what he feels before it's too late. Unbeknownst to Harrison, Andy is talking to Calista about the reason behind his suspicions, revealing that they are in reality half-brothers. After Harrison finishes his fight, he finds out Andy told Calista the truth and runs to talk to her. Calista angrily confronts him and accuses him of lying to her, further ruining their friendship. At the bar, Andy tells Calista about his family problems, saying that their mother made very rushed decisions and cheated on Harrison's dad when their marriage was down, ending up with Andy. Harrison's dad had left them when he found out Andy wasn't his, and Andy's dad, who was already married with a daughter, fought over custody until their mother took Andy in and remarried some years later. Andy says that his dad stopped visiting during his teenage years and that he missed him, until he revealed that he was moving to Canada with his family. Andy had decided to go with his dad, leaving his mother and stepfather heartbroken and giving Harrison a reason to resent him. Calista then discusses her fight with Harrison and unknowingly reveals her team's game plan for their next round, which happens to contain Andy's team. During the team round, the race falls in Fistborn's favor until Andy's team surprises them, revealing Andy's true intentions and confirming Harrison's suspicions. They steal Fistborn's victory and shove them to the second bracket by stealing their collected puzzle pieces, also involving Andy breaking Dakota's leg out of spite. Calista and Harrison argue afterwards and Harrison reminds her of their first meeting as kids, the day she met Lisa White. Calista later remembers the incident and reveals that the boy that had bullied her had been Andy, and his 'friend' was Harrison. Calista trains with Lisa for her semifinal instead of Harrison, since every time they would speak, they would wind up arguing. Harrison confronts her, but Lisa advises him to be alone for some time so they both could cool off. Bark talks to Harrison and implies that Calista is angry enough to cross the line during the team bouts, leaving Harrison in a state of worry. While the team discusses the game plan, Calista and Harrison have a tense debate about whose plan is better and Harrison compares her plan to Andy's, implying that she was thinking like him. They go to the gym to argue alone and Calista slaps him after he says that 'if she pulled a dirty move like that, she could bet that Catalina would not be happy with her'. They end on an agreement to use Calista's plans without excess of violence. During the team round, Calista nearly breaks a Jagged Leaf competitor's leg as revenge on Andy, but is stopped by Harrison. They win the match, but the two actively avoid each other. Harrison wins his semifinal fight and looks for Calista, but she runs from him out of fear that if they conversed, they would argue again. She then confronts Andy and punches him, warning him of their upcoming fight. After their last team round, where they win fourth place, Calista cries herself to sleep over her lost friendship with Harrison and has a nightmare about a violent confrontation between them. She then calls Benson, who has left after Catalina's disappearance, for advice and he comforts her, letting her go back to sleep. Calista has a violent and rough semifinal fight with Andy, who tells her he betrayed them out of envy towards them, mostly Harrison. She wins the match but is injured when Andy beats her out of anger, making Harrison rush out onto the arena to aid her. Calista smiles when she sees him before going unconscious, mending their friendship. The doctor later tells him that she only has a broken rib and a cracked rib that would heal in no time. Bark then enters and makes fun of her state, making Harrison punch him. The girls, meanwhile, discuss Calista's situation with their boyfriends, who encourage them to stop their eavesdropping habits. The same night, Harrison visits Rosalina and asks her for advice on picking a gift out for Calista. Rosalina advises him to give her something that would remind her of him and he buys a special golden locket with four holographic pictures of their best memories and a real emerald in the locket itself to match her eyes. When Calista wakes up, they make up and he gives her the gift. Calista swears she would never take it off. In the bonus chapters, Catalina is suffering abuse and harsh training from her captors. She is forced to undergo a new training regimen in an ADGAI barrier, which contains modifications made so she could feel pain from the 'deaths' she would suffer. Her woman captor reveals that they are planning to modify the Versus maps so they could cause death, putting Calista and Harrison in danger for their semifinal fight. Calista goes to the bar and talks to Andy, who tells her the full story of his childhood and reveals that their mother and stepfather played favorites, eliciting his envy towards Harrison and his move to Canada with his dad. He then says that the reason he vandalized an Air-Car with his friends and blamed it on Harrison, almost getting him arrested and ruining his career, was because he wanted payback for all the times he got in trouble for Harrison's wrongdoings. He then reveals to Calista that he had a crush on her, but he hurt her to hurt Harrison and also for revenge on humiliating him when they were children. The part ends in Harrison's perspective as he eavesdrops on their conversation. Part IV: Change (in progress) Part V: Final Showdown (not available) Main Characters Calista Medley Calista is an 18-year old girl whom Rivera imagined as a "tall girl with honey tan skin, long, wavy dark brown hair, and green eyes". She has dreamed of being a Versus competitor all her life, but after being rejected by 10 different fighting academies, she fell into deep depression and her grades in high school plummeted, causing her to be bullied and reprimanded by her parents. She obtains a chance to change her life when she is kidnapped by a group of men who want her to make her mark on the Versus so their state of Indiana won't be excluded from the competition anymore. Harrison Smith Harrison is a 20-year old young man who Rivera poses as "Calista's closest friend besides Rosalina, although she has a hard time getting along with him at first, he becomes her pillar and picks her up when she falls down". He is a student coach at Fistborn Academy and receives Calista as his first student when she first arrives at Fistborn and he makes sure she does well in her career, willing her to be a great, successful fighter. He also poses as her primary love interest. "Her achievements are his achievements and her failures are his failures. Their bond is unbreakable and they will always be connected somehow, no matter how angry they are with each other." Rivera says. Rosalina Allen Rosalina is a 20-year old young woman who is Calista's best friend, posing as an "older sister figure" for Calista, since she was the firstborn child of her family. Despite her age, Rivera describes her personality to be "very wild and carefree, almost childish." She is a very likeable character throughout the series and is one of Calista's most loyal supporters. Her expertise is mostly in the romance department, being Calista's advisor for her "hidden crush" on Harrison. She also has a huge crush on the top student of Fistborn, Reilly Campbell. Camelot Courier Camelot is a 19-year old girl who is one of Calista's other best friends and is described as the "wisest and possibly most mature member of Calista's social group." She is Calista's most reliable advisor, and although she does consider Calista and Harrison to be a cute couple, she does not push the matter unlike the other three girls. She is very kind and sympathetic towards Calista, though when she gets angry, she tends to be very intimidating. She also had a crush on a student named Aaron Christian, but later changes to her best friend, Chase Cummings. Belinda Ferry Belinda is a 19-year old girl who is one of Calista's other best friends and is the most experienced of the girls, being a third year. She helps Calista improve her fighting and trains her in secret whenever Harrison or the coaches aren't around. She is closest to Camelot out of the other four girls and also has a more mature demeanor, though she does insist on Calista and Harrison being together. She had a crush on a student named Barry Brazil, but later changes it to her pairs partner, Nugent Amp. It is later revealed that Barry liked her, as well, but was too late. Lilith Hodges Lilith is a 17-year old girl and one of Calista's best friends, being the second closest to her besides Rosalina. She is the youngest in the group and the most inexperienced in fighting besides Calista, though she does pose potential for a good fighter. She is described by Rivera as "a girl with a youthful face, straight, shoulder-length, dirty blond hair, and aquamarine eyes. Her figure is chubbier. Not exactly out of shape, but a bit wider than the others." She initially goes through some fat shaming from Hillary and her posse, but the comments fade away after Calista defends her and she loses weight through training. She is the least confident of the girls and the sweetest, shiest one. She has a huge crush on her student coach, Elmer Caffrey. Andy Libbary Andy is a 19-year old boy that Calista meets during her first round in the Versus, who studies in the Canadian academy called Jagged Leaf Academy. He is described as "handsome, with piercing, captivating, icy blue eyes and straight brown hair." He befriends Calista and they become alarmingly close, worrying Calista's friends since getting too comfortable with other academy students was dangerous in the Versus. He poses as a love rival against Harrison. Bark Davies Bark is a 21-year old man who is the prodigious student in his second year and Calista's enemy. He has a smug, arrogant personality and likes to put Calista down, constantly trying to expose anything he could use against her. He is Calista's worst bully and they always argue whenever they meet. Hillary Kaye Hillary is Bark's 20-year old girlfriend and one of the other arrogant top students of the academy. She is Calista's other nemesis and worst enemy, who also tries to find a way to crush her. She is basically the 'mean girl' of the story. Lisa White Lisa is a 25-year old woman who is the head coach of Fistborn Academy and Calista's role model. She met 9-year old Calista when she was 16 after seeing her fight a boy that was bullying her. She was the top fighter of the Versus and her academy and her family fully supported Fistborn after her retirement at 21. She poses as Calista's mentor and is "one of the wisest characters in the book, alongside Camelot." Benson Kalley Benson is a 32-year old man who is responsible for enrolling Calista in Fistborn. He sends his brother and friends to 'kidnap' her in order to propose his plan to expose the Versus admins for excluding states that didn't have 'potential' for the Versus by sending her in and proving that Indiana has competitive fighters. He is also a mentor to Calista and a great supporter. Calista considers him to be the 'reason her dreams were made real'. Catalina Medley Catalina is Calista's 16-year old younger sister. She grows closer to Calista after she starts competing in the Versus, strictly considering herself her 'number one supporter'. She is described to be a "typical teenage girl, easily annoyed and irritated, but sweet and compassionate nevertheless". She is aspiring to be an architect for the Versus Arena. Her most important role is during the time she is missing during the third to fifth parts. Ben Medley Ben is Calista's 9-year old younger brother who is described to be the "smartest, most sarcastic 9-year old alive who seems to be going through pubescent mood swings at an early age". He tends to be extremely irritated with his family members, much like a teenager would be, but throughout the story he does show how much he loves his parents and sisters. He is focused on a holo-soccer career. Henry Medley Calista's father who is initially strict and a bit cold towards her due to her issues at school, but he becomes more supportive after her career begins. He dislikes talking about her relationship with Harrison, but he secretly approves. He does not approve of her relationship with Andy, even if it is only a friendship. Jenny Medley Calista's mother who is also cold with Calista for her grades, but she becomes a more supportive and sweet mother afterwards, showing her loving, motherly self to Calista after so long. She approves of her relationship with Harrison, but is suspicious of her friendship with Andy. Rebecca Willis A 26-year old woman who is Calista's only friend at the beginning before her Versus career starts, she is described as "a pretty girl with a cheerful demeanor, with bouncy, short red curls and sparkling, bright blue eyes. Her freckles and round face shape make her look even more adorable." She supports Calista in the beginning part, though her major appearance is her first and only appearance in the fourth chapter. She is occasionally mentioned in other chapters.